


I Don't Want to Let You Go

by ari_es



Series: Kings and Cohorts [3]
Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, some violence but I don't think it's too graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 06:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ari_es/pseuds/ari_es
Summary: In another world and in another time, Seongwoo and Daniel's lives are still closely intertwined. Though he cannot help their positions, and what he must do on the merciless field of battle, Seongwoo still wished strongly in his heart - wished for better things for Daniel, for their King, and for their Kingdom.





	I Don't Want to Let You Go

**Author's Note:**

> This one doesn't contain spoilers for the main story I believe, and doesn't require its reading once again in my view. 
> 
> Some context as usual: an Infantry is a foot soldier unit, and in the main story are usually werebeasts; they engage in frontal fights and are meant to be directed by their Commanders. A Commander exerts influence on the world around them and especially their Infantry units; this can include persuasion and invoking magic.
> 
> The ending wishes for these characters seem pretty similar to the Minhyun and Jaehwan story, which I'm kind of sorry about haha.. but I think it works so I will keep it for now.

The rain fell hard on the hills, turning the soil underneath into grimy mud. Seongwoo surveyed the troops on their side, eyes lingering on the forlorn figure of their king on his bronze warhorse, their uncharacteristically solemn bard bringing up the rear, the borrowed soldiers who yet looked ready to die all the same, and finally on a lone infantry among the werebeast ranks. On this infantry in particular he could not tear his eyes away.   
  
The man's words from before the battle echoed in Seongwoo's mind: "Seongwoo-hyung, you must not be afraid to command me freely! Only with your word can I fight to my true potential."   
  
But Seongwoo didn't want to, he wanted to scream back, he didn't want to control Daniel, to make him kill. But this was war, another part of him said, and if it is not to kill then it is to be killed, and he couldn't let Daniel be killed. If it was for their preservation, for the sake of his king, his comrades, and the people behind him, then he would do his duty as Commander General. He had to.   
  
He took one last look at Daniel and found him looking back. There was a silent request in his eyes, asking Seongwoo to fulfill his duty, and to help Daniel fulfill his own duty so that he was not a liability, so he could keep everyone alive. Seongwoo grimaced but gave a terse nod back. Just protect him, he told himself, just keep him safe.   
  
"Seongwoo," Minhyun's grave voice called from beside him, "they're here."   
  
A ring of howling started up from the front of the ranks; overhead, the eagles and owls circled, screeching. Seongwoo could see them too, the hundreds of rebels who had been kidnapping and slaying their merchants and travelers, and were now coming upon this outpost. They were to hold them here, to let their enemies know that even the army of a small kingdom such as theirs was not to be underestimated.   
  
The baleful sound of a war horn signaled the start of their assault. The werebeasts charged forward as the fervent tune of a lute replaced the horn, Jaehwan sparing no time in trilling out the first of his sets that would boost morale and physique while it was at its maximum. Seongwoo too, urged his horse forward, but he stuck close to his infantry unit; those wilder infantries and volunteer civilian soldiers who would not submit to a commander flung themselves freely at the enemy from the front lines, relying on their teeth and claw alone. He saw Jinyoung, the young commander from their neighbouring kingdom, not far from him, charged with his own unit of soldiers. It was their duty to ensure the swift and strategic take down of the enemy army as a sort of elite force, utilizing their infantry unit if need be.

“Shields move forward!” he shouted over the rain and the din of war, referring to the larger-bodied bears and bulls, “swords assist from the side - do not let them break through our defense!” the lions and tigers pounced forward, raking down on rebels, who were about 50% human and 50% werebeast. He tried not to linger too long on the splashes of crimson he could see as spears pierced thick hides.

“Daggers,” he said finally, feeling his throat constricting when he knew Daniel was among them, “pick out those who are unguarded or who are preying on your comrades. Let them feel the sting of your blade!”

Ferocious roars sounded the battlefield as the last of the infantries bounded into the fray. Seongwoo found his heart pounding as his eyes inevitably followed Daniel’s brown and black spots. No, he couldn’t do this - couldn't bring personal feelings into this - he turned his horse aside to narrowly avoid a blade to its legs, and slashed out with his own blade at a human rebel’s neck. His blood climbed up Seongwoo’s arms and onto his face. He looked up and searched for his king.

Minhyun was engaging four foes at once, who had surrounded his horse, well-aware who he was. It pained Seongwoo to see him like this, he who had been derided by neighbouring kings and his own court alike for so long for being weak, for preferring negotiation and peace over military might and conquest. Perhaps it had in part been his passive policies that had led to such insurgence on their borders, but he did not deserve the sense of responsibility and guilt that followed. He had upped his own training relentlessly since the violence increased, and it was he who decided to wage battle to show they were not to be reckoned with. Seongwoo was proud of his resolve and dignity, but he hated the dullness in his eyes when he had had to kill to prove his authority.

Seongwoo urged his horse towards Minhyun and slashed a path through his adversaries. It was not that he doubted Minhyun - his king had proven himself, so much so that one of his critics in the past, the king Ha Sungwoon, agreed to lend his forces for this fight, for they were close neighbours who were equally small and had to fight for their independence and prosperity - and also because enemies crossing the Hwang kingdom borders meant enemies getting closer to the Ha kingdom as well. But Seongwoo had to protect him; he was his Commander General, and Minhyun was their king. He could not fall here, and hell if Seongwoo would even let him get injured.

“Are you alright?” Seongwoo shouted, pulling up his horse as he stomped down one last foe.

Minhyun gave a terse nod, blood smearing his face and helmet. He looked grim, and Seongwoo wanted nothing but for the skies to clear again, for the sun to shine, and for the four of them - Daniel and Jaehwan too - to share drinks on the hills tousled by the wind. Minhyun turned away. It was war now, Seongwoo told himself again. The drinks would have to wait, the laughter could come later. For now, they had to fight.

He turned his horse around once more to find his last comrade, their bard Jaehwan. Seongwoo had assigned a special unit of infantry to guard Jaehwan and their back support line before the battle; Daehwi, the young rogue witch who had agreed to fight with them, had also taken a liking to Jaehwan as fellow support units and had promised to keep an eye out for him. As Seongwoo watched, Jaehwan kicked at the skull of a bloodied wolf, and threw his dagger at one of the archers in the distance, all the while keeping the war hymns running. Their eyes met for a moment, and what a man he was to give Seongwoo a smile and a nod in these circumstances. He plucked up a new tune as Seongwoo returned his smile in kind, a smoother number that soothed the pains of their troops a bit, and allowed them to fight with more ease.

But it was all temporary, Seongwoo thought darkly; just a gauze on a big aching wound. As he swung at enemies, he had to command a few soldiers to rise and stand, to keep fighting even though he knew they were tired or bleeding out. The healers scrambled to save their numbers while being protected as well as possible, but the fight was starting to take its toll. Seongwoo could feel bones crunching underfoot as he rode through the ranks, and blood mixed with the mud and rain to soak up his boots. He could not easily tell who was winning, but he took some ease in seeing that most of their ranks were still standing.

A series of agonized screams suddenly rend the air. Seongwoo stopped his horse from bucking him off in surprise just in time, and felt the chill of the ice before he saw it. One of the warlocks he had heard so much about was entering the field, and raking his way through the soldiers. Seongwoo’s hands gripped impossibly tight around his reins when he saw Daniel among those standing against the warlock’s path. _No no no,_  he could not stop screaming in his mind. This was the battlefield and he was not supposed to play favorites or let his emotions come into it, but he could not help himself, could not deny the terrible fear and horror that went through him.

“KILL HIM!” he bellowed as he charged towards them on his horse.

The back of Daniel’s fur bristled, then he and the half dozen of Seongwoo’s infantry nearby roared and seemed to grow - it was always taught that a commander’s word unlocked the true potential of an infantry, allowed them to become stronger and even to take on the elemental of their true nature. Fire licked up around Daniel as he stood to his full true height, even over the head of Seongwoo’s horse. The six infantry as one attacked the warlock, huge as celestial beasts and spouting fire and lightning.

The warlock fended off the first few attacks, but could not help but stagger as the combined force of the infantry rend through his ice shields. Soon he was left vulnerable and exposed as his defenses melted down around him and he screeched out in frustration, eyes alight and hair wild like a banshee. Seongwoo reached down and grabbed a spear lodged in the back of a rebel, and threw it with all his might at the warlock. But before it made contact with his throat, he threw up his hand and froze the spear in its path. It took only seconds for the warlock to turn the spear back around in midair and send it straight back at Seongwoo, seconds which Seongwoo could not react fast enough because he was only human.

A shadow of flame passed before his eyes, then a piercing cry, the splattering of warm blood, and suddenly the shadow fell to the ground with a large thud. Seongwoo had enough time to hear and see the other infantry roar and converge on the warlock before he realized what had happened. A bobcat lying trembling on the ground, jerking as he attempted to stand up despite the spear lodged in his leg.

“DANIEL!” Seongwoo tumbled down his horse and towards Daniel, enveloping him with his arms despite the fire still surrounding him. But it didn’t burn him; instead, it felt warm and comforting. Yet he could also feel the great shake in Daniel’s muscles, taut with pain. “Stay down, stop struggling!”

Daniel’s form immediately slackened in his arms, body relaxing as if it were boneless. The sudden change scared him, and he almost sunk to the ground along with the weight of Daniel’s body. Such was his influence on him, Seongwoo thought bitterly. If he told him to kill he killed, if he told him not to get up again he would not until Seongwoo freed him.

He gripped Daniel’s body tightly. He could tell him to leave the battlefield right now, tell him to recover and not to worry. And despite Daniel’s headstrongness, and being able to resist Seongwoo somewhat when he felt like it - and Seongwoo let him - he really may be taught to believe him this time. He may really sleep until the war was over, until they no longer had to fight. But how would he look at Seongwoo afterwards? Would he look betrayed? Frightened? Like he couldn’t trust Seongwoo or himself anymore? That was Seongwoo’s worst fear. It was not even that he had Daniel under his full control if he wanted, it was that someday he may make Daniel doubt himself. That he could no longer trust in his own autonomy around Seongwoo, that he could not trust Seongwoo to let him be free - and that was something Seongwoo never wanted for someone like Daniel, who deserved to be free more than anyone else.

Daniel lifted his head. A commander cannot verbally communicate with an infantry while they are in their beastform, and that was reason enough for some commanders to ignore their infantry’s pleas and requests. But Seongwoo could understand. After being with Daniel for so long, growing up with him, seeing him find out his role, training with and ultimately commanding him, he could tell what he thought with just a look in his eyes. Daniel’s eyes said right now that he wanted to fight, that he _had_ to fight to keep everyone safe, to keep his own worth on the battlefield. His eyes said that Seongwoo had to command him to get up now.

Seongwoo closed his eyes. He nestled his face into Daniel’s soft fur. He smelt blood and the rain and the mud, and something salty which would not leave his face. _I want to set you free_ , he promised in his heart, pressed against Daniel’s own warm heart. _I want to set you free from this war, from this world. I want to set you free from me. I’m sorry I was your commander._

“Go Daniel,” he breathed against Daniel one last time, “kill them, kill them all.”

* * *

Seongwoo’s eyes burst open. He fumbled around him for a few minutes, not knowing where he was or who he was. There was his bedroom window - further away than usual for some reason - there was his ceiling, these were his fingers, which were touching his face. His name was Ong Seongwoo, and this was 2018, not 1208 or whenever that had been. That had been a dream, that’s right. That had been nothing but a dream.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. There was something caked on his face, and when he raised a hand to it, he found it was slightly wet. He traced his cheeks up to his eyes and found that he had been crying. It’s no wonder; he could still see the dream so clearly, feel the heartrending feeling the him in the dream had felt. The warmth of the body in his arms -

He nearly screamed out loud when he looked down at his bed and found a body there. It’s Daniel, and he’s sound asleep curled up beside him. He realized it’s not his own bed he’s on, but Daniel’s. He must have crawled into it last night, maybe after he had finally finished his essay and gone over to sleepily brag, only to find Daniel was already asleep. Triggered by Daniel’s light snores and incoherent mumbles, he had collapsed into the bed and fallen asleep himself right then and there.

He removed his hands from his mouth and watched Daniel for a few moments. Their world may not have been like the dream, but their positions were still similar. Seongwoo was still Daniel’s Commander, though it may not mean much in their society, which he was suddenly incredibly thankful for. Yet he could still make Daniel do all those things he had done in the dream if he wanted to, make him kill or stand down at will; he’s distracted for a moment by wondering if Daniel would become the giant flaming cat in the dream, but forgets it quickly as more sobering thoughts enter his mind.

The Seongwoo in his dream had wanted to set Daniel free, should the Seongwoo in this waking world do the same? Was Seongwoo somehow holding Daniel back, making him beholden to him? He still remembered the tight-lipped smile Daniel had when he first found out Seongwoo was a Commander. Seongwoo laid back down next to Daniel. But he didn’t want to let him go. Selfishly, secretly, he wanted Daniel by his side, just like right now. He could set him free in other ways right? It didn’t have to end in a tragedy for them?

“Maybe I could just ask that you be the best you can be, that you be happy,” he whispered. _And maybe buy me potato chips, and let me pick the TV channel_ , he chuckled to himself.

“What?” he heard Daniel murmur sleepily.

Seongwoo clasped his hands around his mouth again, not sure if Daniel was sleep talking or actually waking up. When he saw Daniel blearily opening his eyes, he realized it was the latter.

“I said that you’re the best at floor hockey, and that you’re pretty.” Seongwoo replied seriously.

Dn blinked dazedly at him for a few seconds, mouth slightly open.

Abandoning all propriety and inhibitions, Seongwoo threw the blanket back around himself and pulled Daniel closer by looping an arm around his side. He ducked his face into the crook of the pillow and Daniel’s smushed ear, and whispered again, quiet like a mantra: “just be the best that you can be, and be happy.”

Something seemed to have been communicated in that half-asleep half-awake state, for Daniel threw his own arm around Seongwoo’s body and pressed his face into Seongwoo's shoulder. He heard a quiet “thank you” from the younger’s mouth before a warm and cozy fire swathed him in, lulling him this time into a sweet, dreamless, slumber.


End file.
